The Adventures of the Traveling Circus
by Varis Underwood
Summary: Ever wanted to know what happens when a group of Idiots team up together? Follow our group of young, foolish adventures as they explore the Forgotten Realms looking for adventure, glory, gold and girls.
1. Chapter I - A Forest Encounter

The young elven ranger slowly rose from the ground, and slowly turned around. Turning to face the voice he saw that the man had a crossbow readily loaded with a bolt. "Move towards me and I'll shoot!" he exclaimed, cocking his head Varis studied the man. His figure was a large one however his eyes were wild and spoke of adventure and heroism from the stubble that was on his face it was obvious that the man hadn't been keeping himself together, this was also evident from is long messy hair which was dirty from whatever he had been doing. He wore simple leather clad that gave him some protection against the elements and would help him handle any light scuffles he may find himself in. From his belt hung a slightly rusted short sword, a dangerous thing to do as it was not in a sheath. "May I inquire who you are?" asked Varis in his elegant voice, his words running like fresh water flowing along a forest stream. "No! No you may not ' _inquire'_ it's you who'll be doing the talking sunshine," Spat out the man, angrily.  
"Okay but it does seem that you're talking more than me," Varis speculated.  
"Argh! Just shut up, now what's your name pretty boy,"  
"Varis Underwood, at your service and might I just thank you for the compliment, but surely if you want me to shut up I can't do this talking you want me to do?"  
"It wasn't a compliment boy, now stop being such a smart mouth, the odds aren't exactly in your favour are they?"  
"Depends,"  
"On what?"  
"The odds,"  
"Which aren't in your favour,"  
"Aren't they?"  
"No! I have a crossbow pointed at you look,"  
The man flailed his weapon around in the air dramatically getting Varis to pay attention to it  
"See!" Exclaimed the man  
"But it's not pointed at me anymore now, it's kinda in the air now isn't it,"  
The man aimed the crossbow at Varis' head, "I wasn't gonna do this but you've left me with no choice,"  
"Why what did i do?" Varis asked in a slightly startled voice.  
"Your words, they... annoy me, goodbye Varis Underwood,"  
Just as the man prepared to fire the bolt that was loaded in the crossbow he heard a soft twang ring out and turned to see an arrow flying directly towards him from behind the tree line.

The man dropped to his knees before falling backwards onto the ground just in front of Varis' feet. An arrow protruded from his chest directly center to his heart. The arrow had a long black wooden shaft and at the end it was fletched with swan feathers creating a bold contrast between the two parts, the arrow head wasn't visible as it was buried in the man's chest and was the only thing stopping the flow of blood. Leaning down Varis slid the man's eyelids closed so it looked like he was sleeping then wrapping his hand around the arrow's shaft he slowly slid it out of the man's chest so he could study the arrow head. He was sure that it was of elven make but couldn't be sure until he saw the arrow head and it could give some clues into who shot it if it was an elven arrow as they varied throughout the different elven families. As he pulled out the arrow blood started flowing from the wound. The thick crimson liquid trickled down the man's side staining the moss that covered the side of the path a dark red. Studying the arrow head he saw the familiar, intricate elven runes of his race. Deciphering the runes a pain emerged in his heart as he read the family name, _Darthag._ The only one of that family he knew that who fletched their arrow's with swan feathers.  
A figure emerged from the direction that the arrow had been shot from. It was another elf, this one older than Varis however not by much. He had raven black hair and pickled green eyes and stood a foot taller than Varis. "Ah Varis my old friend," said Arbane as he approached him. Tensing his fists he responded in an icy "Hello Arbane, what brings you here?"  
"Just on the chase,"  
"What for?"  
"An adventure! What else,"  
Pondering the idea make Varis think, he'd love to be free all his life he'd been confined to the elven cities and even now, as serving as a forest ranger, one of the youngest as well at only 26, for not the first time he longed to be free, from the restrictions of the elves, all the rituals he had been raised around. Yes an adventure sounded good, but right now his loyalty belonged to the Elven Ranger Corp and he couldn't just go off for an adventure, maybe in 50, 100 years though.  
"An adventure does sound good," he muttered but Arbane picked it up  
"Join me then! It'll be us again, old friends against the world," he exclaimed excitedly.  
"Against the world? I don't remember that, us against the rules maybe,"  
"Come on, why not!"  
"I can't right now, I'm in the Ranger Corps, i can't just leave"  
Arbane narrowed his eyes and looked at the dead man on the ground who had been momentarily forgotten "Wait the Ranger Corp?" he asked  
"Yes why?" asked Varis, then looking at what was in Arbane's line of sight his thoughts cleared "Ah yes, the spilling of blood." He prepared to mimic the howl of a wolf, his Corp call. However before he could make the sound Arbane dashed forward and raising his hand he brought it down hard on Varis' head.

"I spilt no blood!" exclaimed Varis as he stood before the Elder Council. After being knocked unconscious by Arbane he had been dragged to the closest elven settlement along with the dead man. From there he had been escorted by Corps Rangers to the Elven city that ruled over the population of the elven community that lived in the forests of Halruaa with Arbane and now he faced the Elder Council, a collection of the 6 lords and 6 ladies of the Halruaa forests, and Varis was not happy that his grandfather was on it. "This is one of the few nations in Faerûn where Elves and Human are able to live alongside one another in peace and harmony and you have gone and killed a human!" roared his grandfather,  
Orym standing up. Although he was old under his clothes muscles were visible and it was obvious that he was a strong and capable individual. Varis backed away from the yelling trying to avoid the spittle that was flying from his grandfather's mouth. "I haven't" he cried  
Just then, in ran a messenger  
"Elder Orym!" the messenger panted,  
"I bring dire news, the man killed in the forest" he looked darkly at Varis "his death has been discovered by his people, they are demanding retribution and bloodshed."  
Orym lowered his head and thought of what he could do to resolve the problem only one thing came to his mind. He raised his head and grimly announced "Varis Underwood, you have killed a man in the forest we call hom-"  
"I didn't kill him!" yelled out Varis in one last attempt. It failed.  
"SILENCE!, you have broken the peace leaving yourself with two options, you will be either banished from this place you called home, not to set foot in this forest for a hundred years on threat of death, or you can be given over to the land from which the slain man came, what do you chose?"  
Varis took a deep breath

"Banishment."

The sun was rising over the trees in the horizon and a the dew was settling on the crisp blades on grass that swayed in the slight breeze . Beyond the forest spread a vast green plain with a few trees and weathered rocks scattered around. Turning back to look at the forest he saw his childhood home. Smiling slightly as he remembered little things about his time that had been there such as the nights where he would climb to the top of the tallest trees to watch the stars. Sighing he turned to face away, he couldn't linger on those thoughts, he had the rest of his life ahead and although he wouldn't admit it, he felt it would be nice to have some breathing space. Things in the forest had always been a bit... well tense and strict. Elves liked to keep to their ways and traditions and when they can live for up to a thousand years it can be tedious. He guessed though, as his father had left before they knew each other that he and his father were perhaps both restless with the ways of the old however he felt a pang of sorrow knowing he would never truly know this or indeed his father. Above him a flock of birds flew over, doing a sweep of the land ahead before turning back to the forest, no doubt checking that he'd left the forest. Varis looked into the forest and saw eyes peering out, ensuring he was leaving the forest, after all if he stayed in the forest or returned then he would of broken the banishment and would have to be punished with death. Turing his back on his home he strode away to life beyond the forest.

 **Elsewhere...**

A man strolled out a bar leaving the sounds of fighting behind him. Placing his bag of gold in his hand he weighted it and found it considerably heavier. Grinning he walked through town making his way to the town's gate. Another man ran out of the bar chasing after the first but ran into the fist of the first man and promptly collapsed on the ground. Smiling he walked out of the gate leaving the town behind.


	2. Chapter II - Circus Origins

Lewis Wood strode through the temple to his room, clutching his lyre in his arms, dodging around the full sized humans that lived in the temple alongside him. As a Halfling it was hard to be noticed so he was mostly ignored by most people there at the temple. He'd taken the fact that he was often left out as a chance to do something more than his training as a Cleric. Frequently while the others in the temple were busy enjoying each other's company he would go into town, set up a small stall and just do some simple busking. He arrived at his room and started packing his few possessions. Lewis had finally decided that the temple was no longer for him. He had only basic cleric training but he wanted more from is life. He felt isolated and uncomfortable at the temple. He'd made a decision; he would become an entertainer! Slinging his pack over his shoulder he headed off to life outside the temple.

A few days later he had arrived at a large town. With few coins to be able to use for accommodation he decided to start his busking straight away. Bee-lining for the busy, bustling market place he set up stall and started playing on his lyre. After a few hours of playing he had gathered a few silver pieces and several copper pieces too, realising he may need to up the key of his performance he started singing to accompany the soft melodic sounds emanating from his instrument.

A nearby cat was so startled that it alarmingly meowed before bolting off, running through the legs of merchants and the people buying wares. That was until a gigantic dragon born misplaced its foot and made a pancake out of the scrawny ally cat, spreading its matted orange fur across the ground. The sound coming from Lewis's mouth was appalling and a passer-by looked at him with horror from hearing such a din. Needless to say he made no more coin for the rest of the day.

From within the forest the sound of thundering footsteps could be heard. Closely behind these footsteps the echoes of a beast's growl could be heard. Through the underbrush into a clearing crashed a Dragonborn, it was large on stature, at 6 foot and 3 inches, however lacking in strength, a strange combination for sure. The claws identified the Dragonborn as male as they were shorter however thicker than that of a female's. As for his skin, it was a dark blue colour with lighter streaks across the body, giving him an electrifying look. The colours made him easily identifiable as blue dragon kin, magnificent beasts able to draw lighting from the depth of their bellies at blast it at their foes. The Dragonborn looked around the clearing trying to formulate a plan on what to do. It was evident that this Dragonborn was the feature of the beast's rage as the growls were coming closer. He tried scrambling up a tree however due to his lacking strength he instead ended up sliding down, leaving wide grooves in the bark, a result of his claws. He knew there was only one thing left to do. Turning to face where the noise was coming from he quickly prayed to the spirits of nature, he didn't want his actions to disrupt the forest's balance and as a druid, or at least an apprentice druid he must respect the balance and help maintain it. The forest went quiet. Through the bushes where he had just burst from a large black bear emerged. It growled threateningly at the druid before beginning to circle him, mapping out the weaknesses of the Dragonborn. It decided where to attack. It lunged. Drawing a deep breath, the Dragonborn's chest swelled, static cracked around him. He shut his mouth and turned to face the bear which flew through the air towards him. Opening his mouth, a torrent of electricity flew to intercept the bear. This pure energy light up the area meeting the bear full on. By the time that the torrent from the druid's mouth had stopped the bear was lying dead on the forest floor in a ring of scorched earth. Grabbing the bear's paws, he slung them over his shoulder and with what little strength he had, he dragged the corpse to his home.

Arriving at the centre of the forest he rested the bear on the ground and approached a tree which towered over the rest, the tallest tree in the forest. It marked the exact centre of the forest and it was within here where he lived with his master or at least had lived with him, they had called it the hollow tree. Two days ago this beast, which he had now slain, killed his master while he was collecting herbs before beginning on the path of the young druid's destruction. It was now dead and the Dragonborn has avenged his master all that was left to do now was to return the bear to the forest. Entering the hollow tree, he gathered tools that he needed and begun work on the carcass.

After hours of gruelling work, it was done. He had eaten skinned the bear so to wear it in remembrance of his actions towards the balance of nature. While it dried out he prepared the meat. Most of it he dried and prepare so that it could last and be stored for many weeks as food, the rest he left raw so it could be used as a raw ingredient. The entrails he burned and the blood that he had gathered from it, for not all had boiled away, was poured over the roots of the hollow tree. All organs he buried in clay jars in order to return the bear's spirit to the earth which I came from but the heart was left. He would eat this in respect as well as with the hope that it would provide him with the bear's strength.

Following his preparation of bear's body, he entered the hollow tree to say his last farewells to the place. The final thing he needed to do was to appease the forest, something he could only do by leaving the forest. Gathering his belonging into a pack and his master scrolls for it was knowledge the felt should be protected and kept with him, he left the hollow tree for the last time. Donning the bear pelt which was now dried he walked away from the tree and out of the forest.

Nalud, a city of hope, of possibilities, where dreams come true, this may have been true many years ago but now it was far from that. A coup by a group of high class criminals some years ago was the start on the path to ruin for Nalud. The city's fair and just high lord, Astro Occult was taken by the group and executed. The group then took complete control of the city and since then chaos has run amok in the city, unchecked and uncontrolled. In the last few years with the rise of crime the number of urchins living on the city's streets. Often this was the cause of people being kicked out of their homes due to being unable to keep up with tax payments. The majority of urchins however was orphans who had lost their parents. One such case was Vixen Sorrow, aged only seven he'd watched his parents burn to death in their home. Being Tieflings, people had feared of them being demon spawn and decided to test this with flames. Fleeing from the flames Vixen ran through the streets until he was safely hidden in the sewers. Over the years he had learnt to survive and had thrived in the city, living on the streets. He knew not only the exact layout of the streets but also the best places to steal things, those places where things would not be missed. For ten years, he lived like this on the streets until one day, everything changed. He was taking a walk through the central market looking for someone to pickpocket for money or for a stall from which he could easily steal from. After wandering for a bit, he gave up for although he was a skilled thief there were a few guards roaming around that day and he didn't fancy being caught. He sat himself down near where a busker was standing a playing a lyre. The Halfling wasn't very good at playing however he had spirit, Vixen respected that. Vixen sat there for about an hour listening it the jumbled sound of the lyre and watching the world scurry around before him. He glanced towards the busker as he had stopped playing and saw that the Halfling was packing up. Averting his attention, he looked at a stall which was selling fresh bread, the smell was drifting to where he was and it was enough to make him drool. A tap on his shoulder from behind startled him and in response he drew his small knife from his belt and swivelled around. The sight he saw though was not one which needed to be met with aggression. The Halfling who had been busking was standing there with a few coins in his hand. "Here, buy yourself some bread, a saw you look at it," he said kindly. Vixen sat there for a moment, he had been watching the busker for the last hour and he had not made much in the duration, he couldn't have much money himself so why offer what little he had to a stranger. Apprehensively Vixen took the money and with it he went to stall and bought himself a loaf. Hungrily he tore at it, wolfing it down piece by piece. He noticed the strange Halfling who was watching him eat and that he had eaten most of the loaf. Feeling guilty he approached the Halfling and gave what was left of the loaf to him. "Thank you!" the Halfling said, "This must be a good loaf if you enjoyed it so much," Vixen smiled before settling down to watch the Halfling eat the loaf. Once the Halfling had finished he spoke up again, "my name is Lewis, Lewis Wood the Second of his name at your service, and what might yours be?". Vixen was used to being wary of strangers however this one seemed harmless enough.

"Vixen Sorrow," he said brashly before going quiet again.

"Well then Vixen! I have a proposition for you, I'm gonna be in town for a couple of days and I could do with someone to show me around this place, I'd pay you of course and pay for your lodgings in inns. What do you say?"

"I guess I could if you really wanted,"

"Ah good after all I've heard these streets can be a mean rough place, first though shall we return to my inn? The day is getting on and soon it will be dusk"

He rose and Vixen followed him to the inn at which the Halfling was staying.

About an hour later night had started to fall on the city and the duo had not yet reached the inn. Vixen, as someone who had grown up in the area began to worry, he knew how bad the area of the city they were in was, and he knew it was even worse under the cover of night. "I appear to have got us lost!" Lewis exclaimed, "I could of sworn we were going in the right direction,".

In a hushed tone Vixen responded, "I know where we are so I can lead you to the inn, what did you say it was called, the Crimson Crow?", Lewis nodded a response, "Good, now don't talk about being lost if someone overhears we're more likely to get mugged, or worse". Vixen hurried Lewis along in the right direction but before they could go much further, two thugs emerged from an alleyway to their right. They were a pair of half-orcs with ugly, bashed face, clearly both of them had been in a lot of fistfights. In their hands they each had a crude wooden club, banded with iron on the handles and with iron studs in at the other end. They both had a ragtag collection of remaining teeth in their mouth, which could be seen when they grinned and spoke to Lewis and Vixen, "Did one of yous say the was lost?" the first one said. Like an act the second one replied perfectly on time. "We can guide you to where you need to be for a price," the talking switched back to the first, "of cour it's the same prise as us not knockin you out righ here and takin all you hav,"

Lewis murmured something to Vixen quietly. "HEY WHAT YOU SAY!" the second half-orc yelled, "You'd better not be making fun of my brother's speech impeder-imped-imperer, um, speech problem,"

"I think it's more of a mental problem personally, now may we pass, I do have a guide," Lewis calmly said to the brutish half-orc in front of him. Engaged by this the second half-orc raised his club above his head a prepared to smash it down on Lewis' head. Before the half orc had time to do this however Lewis swiftly reached behind him and from his back he pulled a shining mace which had been wrapped and hidden in an oil cloth. Lewis swung at the attack with ferocity yet as he lunged the mace slipped out of his hand and hit him on the foot. Both of the thugs stopped for a second to process what had just happened and once they had processed it they burst out laughing in realisation. Their amusement didn't last long though. From their left flank something like a shadow leaped out at the from the side and plunged a dagger into the first one, who was bigger than the other one however balanced out as he was visibly much stupider than his brother. Being the stupid one of the two he naturally thought that it was some sort of phantom attacking from the dark. Freaking out he ran, dragging his brother with him. Out of the darkness from where the attack came from emerged Vixen. "That's that problem dealt with, now should we get you to your inn?" He murmured.

"Gosh that was fantastic, I might need to keep you around," Lewis exclaimed before hurrying after Vixen, after all he didn't want to encounter those thugs again. And it was after that dangerous counter that Vixen entered the service of Lewis Wood II.


	3. Chapter III - Forest Fire

Several years later, after his banishment, Varis had settled into a small Outlander village. He was easily accepted as it was the kind of place where people stuck together to survive and as he had skills as a hunter he was the sort of person that the village could make use of. As the top hunter in the village he went out on most hunts so had plenty chance to hone and perfect his skills. As the days past he started to not forget about his past and his banishment but simply grew to not care. He had found somewhere, a place in which he fitted in and was himself. It wasn't easy for him to feel at ease at first though. Before this he had been to a few other outlying villages and within those he had been cast out, beaten, robbed and other things as he was an outsider and an elf. Now finally here they accepted him however he didn't accept them as easily. It was only when one of the younger children in the village came to him with a bead necklace she'd threaded for him did he start to feel more at ease with the village. Varis had brought the family from the brink of starvation after the girl lost her father, who hunted to provide the family's food, to a bear. Varis had willingly shared his excess with the family which consisted of a widow and two girls, the younger one being around seven summers of age while the older one was around his age. They'd offered him a place in their hut however he declined and instead opted to build himself a hut of his own.

The village was a small settlement consisting of huts which were scattered around a central communal area. The huts themselves were simple, crude structures. Logs roughly lashed together with leather coverings on the inter side to provide insulation while dried mud was set between the logs to strengthen the huts as well as to stop any air getting in. The roofs of the huts were similar in nature, made of logs lashed together however these were covered in thatch to provide extra cover for the huts. This area had a large fire pit and much space around it. It was there where a lot of the tasks for the village were done such are the preparation of the animals were brought back from hunts. The ground itself was rough and coarse, worn down by the passing of the people traveling through the village as it took a lot of maintenance being a self-sustained settlement yet grass did still grow underfoot in small patches, their presence increasing the further out from the village that you travelled. There were not a lot people whom lived there however there was enough for there to be several children among the group. The village bordered with a forest in which the hunters and gatherers obtained the food which sustained them and surrounding the village on all other sides was a plains, allow for any attackers to be seen from a distance.

Making his hut was something which Varis had prided himself upon, working hard on it in order to have the best living space that he could possibly provide for himself, and at the back of his mind, a family if he ever got to that point in his life. As a result of this his hut was a little more exquisite than its other counterparts throughout the village with smooth, polished wood in the interior walls and intricate carvings on the outside and within which detailed stories and legends. Perhaps the most detailed of them all was the carving of a mighty dragon upon the roof the hut which showed a dragon in flight above a mountain range. It was such a good carving that the villagers said that it could be believable that Varis had seen a dragon although they all agreed that he can't of, after all dragons were so rare in the lands that they were almost a myth if it wasn't for the occasional reports of dwarven strongholds being taken by dragons in want for the dwarf hordes of gold. Varis had even created an operational door for the hut with a pair of hinges he had bought off a passing merchant. It was lucky that Varis was adored by the village as the grandeur of his home could be seen to rival the chieftain's hut, something which would present him as a threat to the chieftain.

For several years, Varis lived here in peace with the other villagers, going about a plain mundane life which he fell in love with despite how simple and uneventful it was. Unfortunately this did not last, for in the year 34 D.C. a blight struck the village. A group of bandits moved into the area and started demanding tribute from the village in order to avoid being raided by them. At first the village were resist and with the help of Varis were able to drive off the first few initial raids that the bandits attempted, this did little to help though and just angered them. Over the months the attacks got more and more fierce and soon people started dying and Varis decided that enough. He gathered together the small group of hunters was in charge of as the head of the hunt and gave them a choice to join him on the assault or stay at home and protect their families, about half of them stayed behind while the rest joined him for the attack on the bandit camp. They spent the day preparing their weapons, sharpening swords, making arrows and by late afternoon Varis and his small group of seven was ready for attack.

Waiting till nightfall the group headed out west into the forest where the bandits had set up their camp. Sneaking around the outside the scouted it out and then climbed up the trees so to get a birds eye view of the camp. Each member of the group each drew an arrow from their quiver and held it to the bow. Nothing could be heard but the rustling of the leaves in the light breeze, they'd have to make adjustments for that to ensure they didn't miss their shots. Varis arched his back, pulling the bowstring taunt using the strength he had built up in his shoulders from almost a hundred years of using bows. He picked his target and narrowed his eyes shutting everything else out but his prey. Among the trees the other hunters did the same. He released, and as the others heard the twang of his bowstring they released arrows on their targets. The noise of the seven arrows flying through the air was disguised by the crackling of the fire and the noise coming from the bandits in the camp yet arrows thumping into things could clearly be heard. Three bandits had been shot dead and a further two were wounded, not to shabby, another one was quickly felled as Varis let lose a second arrow just moments after the first and by the time everyone else had got off their second shot Varis had taken out a total of five bandits. In total, with their 17 arrows they had killed eight, wounded five and so only four of the arrows in total had missed. Varis suspected the same people had missed each time, the two youngest of the group who had only been hunting for a couple of months. Varis has no qualms though, they were young and still had much to learn. Dropping from the trees Varis and the others regrouped about league from the camp, they there about 28 bandits in total so they had provided a suitable hindrance to the bandits and so Varis sent them back to the village while he went back and monitored the camp, something he had been doing often to keep the village as safe as he could. Turning his back on the group he headed back to the bandit camp leaving his comrades behind.

Back at the camp the bandits saw arrows fly out of the tree, almost as quick as they could blink they had lost eight men and were now in sheltered positions to protect them from any more arrows. Before long they worked out that the attack had come from the trees and were murmuring among themselves what to do about it. One spoke up "Maybe it was that village, we should just go and ransack it right now, kill everyone there" he finished it with a grin. Another one raised his voice, "And how do you propose that we do that when we're pinned down by archers in the trees?" "We rush them of course, get to them and kill them before they can cause anymore trouble," "Ah yes but then we'd lose even more getting to the trees, we've already lost eight and the boss is wounded!". This squabble went on between the two bandits before a third person spoke up "Be quiet you fools, your squabbling won't get us anywhere will it?" Looking up the first two bandits saw that it was Urath, the second in command talking to them. They nodded their heads and apologised. "Here's what we do" Urath said and he started to explain his plan to the men.

Varis arrived back at the location of the bandit camp roughly 90 minutes after leaving, he had traversed a league and then retraced that distance which would normally take someone about two hours but he was fast, he knew the forest and was able to make it back quicker. As he approached the area he saw an orange blaze from the edge of the camp, the side from which the village was. He and his men had gone the opposite way when fleeing as they didn't want to lead the bandits back to the village even if it was a leagues away from the base. This meant that they had led the bandits, or at least tried to lead them, about two leagues from the village to protect it. Climbing a tree which hadn't caught ablaze yet he looked over the forest and saw that the fire had spread far through the forest and were rapidly approaching where the village was, he dropped down from the tree and went to check the camp as it seemed empty. Searching through it Varis saw it had been quickly demolished and abandoned. Looking through the camp's remains and thinking about the fire he realised what the plan of the bandits must have been. What a fool he'd been, shooting on the camp from the east, the direction of the village, giving hints to where the attack was from. Varis sprinting off to the village, hoping he could get there in time, running through the forest with complete disregard for the fires which surrounded him.

Running through the forest Varis broke through the treeline and was greeted by the sight of the village fully ablaze, fires raging in all of the huts. He could smell rotten burning flesh, carried over by the wind which was blowing the smoke in his direction. In despair he dropped to his knees and held his head in his hands. This was he fault it was all down to him, he was the one who decided to attack the bandits, the one who planned it all. As it knelt there on the ground a fury filled him and he charged at the village hoping to find some bandits there to make them pay. Most had left yet there was still some who remained to loot what else they could. Ignoring the bodies of his friends and neighbours which scattered the ground, lying there burnt and bloodied he charged the first bandit he saw. As he ran forward he leaped through the air and drew his sword. The steel blaze glinted in the early morning sun and the light of the fire. As he landed in front of the bandit, a burly man clad in hide armour wielding a crude battle-axe. Varis thrust his sword square through the man's heart, killing him in one fell swoop. Pulling his sword out of the chest he moved on going through the village as it blazed and burnt around him. Every bandit he found met their death at the end of his blade and after killing the tenth and final bandit in the village he found that he was at his hut, which sat on the edge of the village and blaze. He entered it, covered in blood and the smell of death. His blade slipped out of his hand, slick with the blood of the bandits fell onto the floor. Then Varis fell to the floor himself, exhausted by rage and lack of rest, sorrow overwhelmed him and he could do nothing but curl up and sob, waiting for the fire to engulf the hut and take his life like it already had done with everyone else he knew. He closed his eyes and waited for death.


	4. Chapter IV - The Quest Begins

Waiting for the noise to settle down the head priest stood up and addressed the four adventurers who sat around the low table in the room they were in. Being in a temple the room wasn't lavishly decorated. There was a low wooden table with and a threadbare rug on the floor. The floor it's self was made of crude stone slabs which were slightly uneven. Around the room on the walls there was tapestries showing scenes from the past with window between them allow light to seep into the room. The adventurers sat around the table on small stools while the head priest adorned in flowing white robes stood opposite them. He was not an elderly man however he his hair was still alarmingly white in colour. He had a thick beard and a warm smile full of compassion suiting himself to his role. Across the room a couple more members of the temple stood watching, leaning against the wall. The priest smiled "I'm so glad that you could answer our call for help, I should start by explaining why we put out a call for adventurers and fighters,". His face turned slightly grim, "A few months ago we heard news of increased activity involving demons and we believe that in relation to this a cult has risen in a village nearby and plans to summon demons and take control of them for their own evil bidding." The group of people nodded to show they were listening and understood, one of them spoke up, "My name is Occult, Stello Occult, what do you propose we do about this cult then?".

"You need to investigate them, confirm their existence and then once you have discovered their plans, do what you can to stop them. Trust me demons are a serious matter, they are dark evil creatures, one did this to me". Hitching up the sleeve of his robe he revealed burnt damaged flesh which ran from just above his wrist right up to his elbow.

Stello spoke up again "Understood, we'll fine this cult, and stop their plans with extreme prejudice. There will be some reward I assume?"

"Ah yes of course, you will each be given a 500 gold piece on completion of the task and we have a small collection of magical items which we have no need for, you can each take one of those now," The priest took an oilcloth out from below the table which was bundled together loosely with a piece of twine. "I'll be honest we're not actually sure what magic properties these have, we haven't been able to find out, but we know they're magic,". He pulled the twine and let the oilcloth fall apart revealing what had been hidden inside. There was a longsword, dull and faded from years of age with an intricate scene of battle engraved on the hilt, a sliver amulet in the shape of a heart with a red ruby in the center which seemed to glow with life, a shining set of scale mail, a javelin which was blue and gold with a jagged head on each side that looked almost like lighting and a short wooden wand banded with iron brackets on either side. "You can squabble between yourselves later who gets what, but for now let's get down to business, I'll fill you in with the details,".

The next morning they were ready to set off to the village in the south to complete their quest. The group was made up of the four adventures and the two acolytes from the temple. No two members of the group were the same. The adventurers were a dragonborn druid, a Tiefling warlock, a halfing cleric and a wood elf ranger while the acolytes were a gnome cleric and he was accompanied by a half-orc paladin. They had been assigned to help with the quest as it would be very unbecoming for the temple to ask strangers to risk their lives if the temple wasn't willing to risk the lives of their own. There was also another reason, the adventurers already had partial payment and so they needed to make sure that the work actually got done and they didn't get swindled. They all set off for the village at first break of dawn, it was going to be a long trek, with a ten day travel time the village, a whole week of walking! Although they would be on the road for ten days they only had provisions for five days, there would be a couple of other town and villages along the way so they could afford to travel a little lighter and they needed to really as they carried armour and weapons with them. They each carried their rations and sleeping bags in the packs they carried on their backs which had anything they needed. There might be places to stay on the way but most nights would have to be spent camping out. They of course also had their new magical items yet and had each spent the night becoming attuned with them which they had divided up the day before.

After the meeting the four adventures had been left in the room on their own to decide if they wanted to accept the quest, the two individuals, and elf and dragonborn were happy to, however a couple of them had come together and although one, a halfling, was happy to do it, his companion, a Tiefling, wasn't so sure. In the end though he'd agreed to the quest and then they had to dish out the gear between them. Despite the fact that the elf was the only hands on fighter he did not want the armour or either of the weapons. This caused some minor squabbles in the group. In the end though the wand went to the druid, the spear went to the warlock, the longsword was taken by the cleric and strangely the elf chose to take the amulet, the least fitting of the items for a ranger apart from maybe the wand. The armour as it wasn't taken by any of them, was donned by the paladin from the temple as he would most likely be acting as tank in any combat. Once they had chosen their magic item they each approached the head priest, showing the item they had taken to show they would be accepting the quest offered to them.

Thanks to the night the adventures spent with the magic items the group now understood what each of them were and what they could do. The intricate little amulets boosted the healing ability of the wearer, this boost was enough to half the time it would take for wounds to heal otherwise. The sword was a simple item which was just stronger and more powerful than any standard longsword while the javelin, although seemingly just highly decorative, had an unusual property to turn into a lightning bolt when thrown. The wand was imbued with magic allowing for the spell magic missile to be cast from it, however it did have a limited amount of charges that if all used up would cause the wand to disintegrate, fortunately though the charges were regained over time. With these magical items the group felt more powerful and confident but of course they didn't discuss the properties of the items as to prevent in fighting from someone wanting to swap and someone else not wanting to. Although the group of people didn't know each other, apart from the acolytes who knew each other and the halfing and tiefling who travelled together they started getting to know each other. The duo of traveling companions were Lewis Wood the II and Vixen Sorrow, a couple of guys who had met a few years back in a big and since getting into some trouble and helping each other out they'd had each other's backs since. The other two, the Elf called Varis and the Dragonborn, Stello Occult, didn't let up much, but Varis had mentioned in passing how he had been banished from his home. It seemed like a bit of a taboo subject so they left it at that.

The journey took a little longer than expected. In total it took them twelve days to arrive at the village, Andolin, due to unforeseeable events. On the fifth day as they were traveling along the Bougalecross Road between Liendon and Castier they were ambushed by a group of bandits. There was about ten of them and although this wasn't a challenging amount for the group of six, the bandits had got the jump on them and as a result Varis was hurt quite badly. After killing a few of the bandits and driving the rest off they made a litter and carried Varis on it to Castier which was still half a day away. Although it was a bad wound, thanks to his magic item, he healed quickly and they only lost a couple of days while waiting for him to heal up in Castier. It was the second and only other town between the temple and Andolin so they had been on traveling rations and camping out on the road for the last seven days meaning the wish for warm food and bedding was very strong within the group and it was a unanimous decision between the four adventurers to go straight to the inn and spend the evening resting before starting out on their investigation of the cult the two acolytes however had other ideas and went to the village hall, wanting to try and gather information from the authority figure. They spilt ways and while the acolytes went deeper into the village while the others went into the inn.

They strolled up to the bar and stood there waiting for the barkeep to see them and attend to them. The inn seemed alright but it was more of a tavern. Clearly the rooms were just a side job to bring in some more money. It was late afternoon so the building was fairly empty with just a couple of people sitting on old tables drinking to pass the time. The barkeep glanced over them blankly and then proceeded to continue the glass in his hand with a cloth. The barkeep was a burly folk, heavily built with thick shoulders and scraggly black hair which was visibly greasy. It seemed like a wonder that the glass that he held hadn't yet been crushed in his large hairy hands. He wore simple clothes which were slightly stained with various unknown substances showing that the apron around his waist wasn't doing its job. Varis coughed loudly to get his attention. The barkeep looked over and eyed them up. "What's your poison?". He saw the confusion and mild panic on the faces of the four strange humanoids in front of him and rolled his eyes "What do you want to drink?" The one who got his attention seemed like a normal person and so did the little one however the little one still creeped him out, he looked like a grown man but he had the body of a child. The other two were another matter all together, one looked like a big lizard and the other like devil spawn. The only truly normal looking one spoke up "Um actually we were hoping to hire rooms for 6 people."

"There's only four free rooms at the moment, we can't fit six of you sorry." Truth be told there was only 7 rooms in total and they were all free at the moment but he wanted to at least make it seem like he actually had business. Varis smiled "That's okay, you two can share can't you," and he looked to Vixen and Lewis. They nodded, "And I'm sure the other two won't mind sharing, they can sort out the final room and pay for that themselves, so how much will our three rooms be?" The barkeep stopped for a minute to consider if he should swindle them. "We'll be here for at least a week maybe longer so we'll pay for a week now."

The barkeep stopped thinking, if they were gonna be here that long then there was no need to try and get more money out of them. "It'll be 1 silver per night per person and one gold per room hire, breakfast is included." Vixen suddenly looked up at the sounds of food. "That's seven gold in total for the week," the barkeep concluded. Varis and Stello each pulled out two gold pieces and three came from the shared money bag Vixen carried for him and Lewis. They stacked them on the counter and took the keys for their rooms. Taking the money, the barkeep lead them up to their rooms and gave them keys for the rooms "Name is Styv if you need anything,". The four men entered their individual rooms and begun their rest while Styv headed back down to the bar to be greeted with the sight of one of his patrons leaning over the bar looking for more booze. He was clipped around the back of the head and thrown out.


	5. Chapter IVI - Just Late

A figure ran up the steps and into the temple. They wore a three quarter mottled green woollen cloak with the hood over their face to hide in. They was quite short in stature standing only about 5"4' or 5"5'. Across their back was slung a quiver half full of arrows rattling loosely in the quiver as they ran. These were clearly for the recurve bow they held in their hand. This was an elegant bow which had limbs which curved outwards and then met together in the centre, curving inwards to their meeting point. Their feet were wrapped in hide boots and their chest and legs were clad in leather armour, providing them with some protection from any harm that might come their way. As they jumped up the final two steps their hood fell down revealing dark shoulder length hair, deep hazel eyes almost black from the intensity of the pigmentation of the eyes. The young woman had a fierce glare on her face, clearly she was on a mission that was of the upmost importance to her. She strode into the temple with an air of confidence. "I'm here about the quest she yelled," as she entered the temple. The head priest of the temple came out to greet her and informed her that a group of people had already gone to do the job. "Damn, I needed to get they job, he was meant to be doing it after all." Hearing her frustration the head priest told her where they had gone and how to get there. "They'll already be there huh, I'd better travel quick then.". Thanking the priest she sped off out of the temple. In her frustration she reached back behind her and drew and arrow, shooting it at a tree with deadly accuracy. The arrow was fletched with a black swan feather on the end and the head of the arrow on the opposite side was a steel broadhead which had a mottled green tint to it, matching her cloak. Ignoring the road she ran in to the forest, opting for a faster route, on her way to Andolin.


End file.
